2/16/19

Sepia Saturday...Family Doubles & 1920's Photo Restoration

     Sepia Saturday457's  'Oh la la etalage'...or as we say in Texas 'Oh la la window display' didn't bring to mind any photos or ancestors/relatives that spoke any more French than Oh la la!
     However, the mannequins on pedestals, and their 1920's style clothes and hairdo reminded me of a Sepia photo of my grandmother's sister and my grandfather's brother.
      On closer inspection of the Oh la la etalage, the reflection of the trees and landscape sealed my decision to Show and Tell their Sisters to Brothers marriage story.
      That sounds kinda incestuous, huh?  So hang with me and I'll sort it out for you.  Here goes.  My grandmother Stella had a younger sister Mary Ella.  My grandfather Chappo had a younger brother Cobb.  Mary Ella married her sister's husbands brother and Cobb married his brother's wife's sister.  Got it? 
     That made Mary Ella and Cobb my Dad's Double Aunt and Uncle and all their children Double Cousins who looked more like siblings.
     This photo of Mary Ella and Cobb taken around 1920 must have been a favorite of her mother, my great grandmother Martha Jane.  It looked like it had been handled often with it's worn and torn corners.  Here's where the landscape reflection in the 'Oh la la etalage' prompt photo reminded me of the restoration I did for Mary Ella and Cobb's picture.  After enhancing and lifting shadows out of Cobbs face to discover the goggle's, I've often wondered if there was a motorcycle just out of the picture.
Double Cousin Servicemen about 1946
Navy son of Chappo and Stella.....Air Force son of Cobb and Mary Ella
   

13 comments:

  1. Clever take on the theme! My cases of brothers marrying sisters go too far back for me to have photos. Nice restoration job, by the way!!

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    1. Thank you, it was leap of 'non parlent French' Texans...except my genealogist aunt thought my 2xgreat grandfather was French because his name was Rene. You know I googled how to say 'no speaking French'...Oh la la!!!

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  2. I've got a couple of brothers who married sisters in my ancestry too, and like Wendy, they were living before photography was invented. So glad you enhanced that favorite photo!

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    1. I was lucky to have the pictures and the knowledge about these Doubles since they were a generation behind me. The photo was a bonus found in my great grandmothers album.

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  3. I think there are some Doubles way back in my family. The enhancements are tricky and really good restorations. Neat!

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    1. I imagine Doubles were pretty common way back in the day. I've done quite a lot of photo restorations in the 'Paint Program'...wish I could say 'in Photo Shop', but it made me see 'Double'...complicated and to time consuming.

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  4. Working out a family tree with double double related spouses would make my head spin. Did any older first names get reused in the next generation? Recently I've been scanning some tiny photos from this same 1920s era and giving them the digital fix. It's always a thrill to see details revealed.

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    1. Yes, working out these 'Doubles' made 'Ancestry's Profile Head' spin. Good question on the next generation names. Chappell 'Chappo' had a grandson named after him, and Cobb's son, Thomas, was named after a line of grandfathers dating back to the beginning of time...well, at least to Plymouth Rock. He was Thomas the CxC+LXIIVI or some ridiculous number. My Dad was an original Willard.

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  5. Lovely 1920s photographs that are a great match for the leading mannequin in the prompt image.

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    1. Thanks...I thought my Great Aunt Mary Ella matched her pretty well, too.

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  6. I don't think we have any 'doubles' in my family, but my grandmother was once engaged to a man whose granddaughter married an ex-boyfriend of mine. As it happened, Grandma didn't marry the man, but if she had, would that have made my ex-boyfriend my brother-in-law?

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  7. My great grandmother and her sister married two brothers. Lots of double cousins. Fun at family reunions.

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  8. Anonymous2/19/2019

    The hat and goggles does make one wonder about a motorcycle - or maybe just an open air car.

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